Elite New England prep school says teacher admits sex abuse

An elite New Hampshire boarding school alerted alumni this week that a longtime teacher has admitted to two cases of sexual misconduct with students in the 1970s and 1980s.

[...] a graduate of St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, was convicted in August of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old freshman in what prosecutors linked to a competition known as the Senior Salute, in which seniors seek to have sex with underclassmen.

The Association of Boarding Schools honored him in 2012 with an annual leadership award, and he continued his involvement in other educational endeavors, including on the board of a charter school, after his forced retirement in 2011.

Thomas Hassan, principal from 2009 to June 2015, said in a written statement issued by Exeter on Thursday that the school received the 2011 report after he sent an email to the community that year with the goal of encouraging reports of misconduct following cases of sexual abuse at Penn State and Syracuse Universities.